Highland Park parents, students protest principal's departure

Upset community members crowd into school board meeting

May 13, 2014|By Gregory Trotter, Tribune reporters

Ross Erlebacher, father of a Highland Park High School sophomore, addresses the District 113 school board on Monday night. Many parents are upset at the departure of principal Brad Swanson, who's leaving at the end of the school year for another job. (Gregory Trotter, Chicago Tribune)

The impending departure of a beloved Highland Park High School principal has ignited a community backlash toward District 113 officials in recent weeks.

In July, Brad Swanson will leave to become an assistant superintendent with Glenbrook School District 225. A Highland Park resident with children attending Highland Park High School, Swanson will take a significant pay cut in his new position.

Swanson and district officials have declined to comment on rumors that Swanson was pressured to leave his current post.

"I feel like the silence is deafening. It's so telling that no one is saying anything to the contrary," said Amy Small, co-president of the high school's parent teacher organization and mother of three students.

As of Tuesday morning, an online petition started by Small to keep Swanson had almost 800 signatures. Recently, many parents and students have said Swanson's resignation – and the perceived failure of the district to retain him – exposed fractures between district leadership and the community. Some have openly criticized Superintendent George Fornero, saying he should be the one to go.

In a recent interview, Fornero said he's listening and hopes to improve communication. It's the combination of Swanson's exit and unrelated, but similarly unpopular, proposed staff cuts that have upset both community members and teachers, he said.

Last month, controversial proposed staffing reductions in the school's fine arts department also led to public outcry.

"In terms of morale, yes, people were upset with the way we did staffing," Fornero said in a recent interview. "I think people were surprised, shocked, disappointed with (Swanson's) announcement. … Those two things, coupled together, I think made things difficult."

Fornero and District 113 school board members have declined to comment directly on Swanson, citing legal concerns and district policy.

"We are doing the search. He has taken a job elsewhere," Fornero said. "There's not a lot more I can say about it at this point. Those are the two facts."

The district likely will administer a staff morale survey in the fall, Fornero said.

Students and parents, meanwhile, are still fighting to keep Swanson at Highland Park High.

More than 100 students staged an early morning "Save Swanson" protest in front of the school on Tuesday. They held signs with slogans like "Swanson for Superintendent" and "We Want Answers."

In an interview, student organizers of the protest talked about what their principal has meant to them and described him as a positive and ever-present leader.

"He has supported all of us so much, whether it's at plays or sporting events or charity drives," said Rachael Frazer, 18. "We wanted to show we support him, as well."

They also wanted to make a point with district officials.

"We want to send a message to the school board that it's not OK how this has been handled," said Maddie Pine, 17. "We want to show that we have a voice and we have a say in our school leaders."

At this point, it's unclear whether Swanson's return is even a possibility. The search has begun to find his replacement, District 113 officials have said.

His contract with District 225 was finalized on April 8, according to District 225 spokeswoman Karen Geddeis.

As assistant superintendent of human resources for District 225, Swanson will earn a salary of $171, 217, according to a school board memo.

As Highland Park High principal, he made $220,000 this year, according to the Lake County Regional Office of Education.

Swanson declined to comment for this story.

At a recent school board meeting, dozens of parents took turns praising Swanson and blasting Fornero and school board members. Some seemed flummoxed by a beloved principal's departure; others expressed anger.

Marla Brown, mother of Olympic figure skater and local celebrity Jason Brown, said her son likely wouldn't have made the Olympics without the principal's guidance and support.

"The more I've talked to people in this community, the more I feel the lack of transparency has created such rumors and such negativity and has really lost the credibility of this board as a whole," said Brown, who has another son who's a sophomore at the school.

Alena Laube, a former department chair of world languages at Highland Park High, said she'd heard "troubling reports of administrators being bullied and belittled by the superintendent."

Fornero denied that in an interview after the school board meeting.

"I do hold people to high expectations. I don't believe I let people slide by with certain things. And I do challenge people," Fornero said. "But I wouldn't describe that as bullying or belittling."

As for how to heal what appears to be a fractured relationship with the community, Fornero said he must listen and communicate more effectively. As proof that he's learning from these recent controversies, he pointed to the proposed fine arts cuts.

After meeting with teachers, parents and students, two of the three classes to be canceled next year – because of insufficient enrollment – have been restored, he said. And the orchestra director will be made full-time, Fornero said, after the initial plan was to reduce his position to part-time.

Going forward, Fornero said he would involve department chairs in staffing decisions early in the process. Such discussions have to balance the quality of education with financial concerns, he said.

"I'll say it this way and I don't like the way it sounds: We had a job to do. Our mandate is a balanced budget," he said. "In hindsight, I'd say we went about it the wrong way."